John Herdman replaces Octavio Zambrano as CANMNT coach

I had no idea Zambrano's position was under threat. He was busy scouring the world for talent, increasing our player pool. Perhaps Herdman is a better face for handshakes needed to draw sponsors and building an internal framework.

 

I have heard that the provincial Tournament Directors were threatened by the changes Zambrano want to make to the development pathway, so they engineered his removal. And I thought the CMNT players ousting Holger Osieck was bad. The plan was for Herdman to move up to the CMNT in 2020, but it looks like that timeline has accelerated.

 

I have read comments about my departure from @CanadaSoccerEN but the one below is the most accurate, I will explain at a Press Conference in more detail. I enjoyed every minute in this great country and the genuine support of the fans. Best wishes to the CSA, and coach Herdman. https://t.co/KPV9jRXmJD

— Octavio Zambrano-Viera (@oz_football) January 9, 2018

 

Story made the BBC

 

After further thought, perhaps he'll turn into another Vanney - no Pro coaching experience, but willing to learn and improve to the point where he won coach of the year. I'll watch and evaluate for a year before further comment.

 

So we are back to the good old boys network? Way to go CSA. Accelerating the process to make sure we get Herdman as a coach? A guy who has NEVER coached a men's team to anything? A guy who has had 2 coaching jobs both with women's teams?

I wish him well but that excuse is just poppycock IMHO.

 

There are so many things that are concerning to me, based on what has been reported.

It concerns me that after six months, the CSA decided on Zambrano and still that was "rushed" according to Schaad.

It concerns me that all of the criticisms about Zambrano's training methods, his relationships with technical directors and his failures in scouting only come out after he's been fired.

It concerns me that how Herdman was able to get this job. Nobody was interviewed. It was given to Herdman after he came to the CSA with leverage and they just gave it to him.

There appears to be a camp that sees the CSA as a group of brave people who are taking a short term PR hit in order to save this program from long term damage from Zambrano. There's another camp that sees them as a bunch of incompetent idiots who are too stupid to appreciate the genius of Zambrano and pushed him out the door because they don't want change.

Neither of these two camps is 100% correct however it's hard to give the CSA the benefit of the doubt at all.

 

Tread carefully with how much stock you put into Schaad. He has a history of playing the "I knew this was coming" card to look like he is more connected than he really is.

This is a smear campaign on Zambrano at this point. I mean, Marc Weber tweets he had inside knowledge now? When he got sacked from the Province his connections in media to continue paid employed were so great he left the trade. Yet somehow he is super connected?

OZ was asking (as many foreign coaches would do) for changes that threatened the power structure of soccer and the provincial associations. Anyone who has been following the program for 30 years knows how these provincials are still an old boys network protecting their turf. Heck, here in BC its 2017 and the BCSA still treats private academies like outlaws which hurts development , not helping it.

So yes, a guy come in and breaks glass, its not a shock he is out of favor and they are looking for a way out. Herdman says he may leave so it gives them the chance to do this move.

I don't know what will happen. I am not a total fan of Herdman. The mutual admiration between himself and his female players reaches uncomfortable levels at times. I don't see that playing with a group of male players who make more money than him, have big egos, played at a higher level, etc. He will have to change his people management. He also has loyalty to a player when all the signs say don't start her (Sessleman in the England game is a glaring example, after she was brutal against the Swiss). That will bite him in the ass hard with the MNT.

End of the day, this is another story to tell our grand kids about the CSA and their shit show. (we all have so many already). John has until 2020 to start WCQ and so it will be hard to judge him until then. I am not sure if we will be able to play our best 11 in the league of nations with the travel schedules and it not being a premier tournament so the clubs will look for ways not to have to send their players over.

He was able to have impact on youth development for women, but the associations didn't lock it down like they do with the men and it will be far tougher to make changes.

This stinks, the smear campaign upsets me. But , John is our MNT coach now so he has my attention to see how he does.

I think he will get a LONG leash. If they miss 2022 I think he will be kept around. With it likely we are hosting 2026 and an auto qualifier, his profile will be helpful in getting money, sponsors, etc on board. He may even be helpful for the CPL if that ever gets off the ground.

So, I will be pissed for a few days, dust myself off, and look forward to seeing what Herdman can do.

 

I thought it was only a 3 hour time difference

 

dissapointed the Sun Headline was not "ZambramThankYouMa'ams" https://t.co/N1F9FCgyGR

— Toarea Fan 🇨🇦 (@TOareaFan) January 10, 2018

 

Two points here:

1. We still don't know what the WCQ format is. However, in the past two cycles we've started in 2015 and 2011 respectively so 2019 might be when we start.
2. League of Nations starts in September. Those games serve as qualifiers for the Gold Cup so really, he's got nine months until the MNT start playing for keeps again.

 

I posted the following on the Whitecaps thread and I apologize to you for repeating some of your talking points because I wasn't aware that you posted them here:

For me, Herdman's coaching legacy is that he turned the CWNT into a very effective, dare I say utopian club side, a genuine all-for-one-and-one-for-all group. Now, it helps when your qualification route for Olympics and World Cup features a pretty huge gap between the top two (or maybe three) sides in the qualifying group and than the rest, thus affording you the opportunity to build for peaking at tourney time. But I have no doubt about the guy's skills in the psychological side of things. The biggest example for me involved his managing the Sesselman situation prior to, during, and following elimination from the World Cup, where he persisted with the defender who had only recently returned from long term knee injury but displayed indifferent form, resulting in a poor play leading to the goal for England in the QF on home turf. I mean, the aftermath of that could have been a sh*tstorm against him from some of his defenders left on the bench or in the press box, but there really wasn't any peep from players that was reported. And if there was dissent, it certainly didn't get exposed in any significant manner by the soccer journos in this country. That's either great team building skills and/or high character from the players in the program, or a Rasputin like hold on the team's key leaders. Not sure.

The problem with our CMNT has been, for want of a better term, Ron Burgundy Syndrome: you know, "I'm kind of a big deal around here" guys who are actually role players, or worse, but seem to have the attitude that they are better than they actually are (guys like Brennan in previous WCQ cycles or Osorio now). They are not without international abilities in some areas, but when adversity comes their way they all become finger-pointers, blame the manager of the day (insert your favourite choice here), or the fan boys go and scapegoat or sand bag some player or another, usually not someone from the GTA.

I think he'll be in for a serious case of culture shock, but I also believe he'll be afforded a lot of time from the CSA leadership to make things work in some way or another, or at least get spun to be seen as successful. For me, his success hinges upon having some genuine world class players coming to the forefront in much the same way the likes of Lawrence, Buchanan, and Fleming have arisen with the WNT.

As for the journos involved, the guys OldFan mentioned are all trying to take some credit for this scoop in order to improve their journalism careers. So why not trot out some vague twitter comments about unnamed sources. They probably put the story on their LinkedIn profiles!

 

He's not going to qualify for 2022 and he's not expected to. This is a 2026 appointment and a terrible one

 

over 4 years away from a WC we are already eliminated?

 

Count on it.